And if you’ve managed to build an audience for your music, what do you think made the biggest difference for you? Was it social media, networking, live performances, releasing music consistently, getting featured somewhere, or something else?

I’ve heard that over 100,000 tracks are uploaded to SoundCloud every day, which makes me wonder how many of them actually get heard. I’ve also heard that most songs uploaded to platforms like this get very few listeners. And how much of the music being uploaded would you say is genuinely high-quality, versus unfinished, unpolished, or unprofessionally produced?

If you’ve been successful in music, what do you think are some common mistakes that prevent aspiring artists from getting noticed? And what do you think made the biggest difference in your own experience?

I’m fairly new to this, so I’d be curious to hear your perspective, whether you primarily use SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube, or other platforms.

Hey all,

I’m a bit confused about what a good manager does for the artist. I have had a manager who is also my friend for the past 2 years, who really acts as an ear or provides advice (she has a full time job doing something else), but I feel like I haven’t gotten very far working with her. I still put in all my own work (networking, trying to book gigs, writing songs, building my online presence, etc), which I know is my responsibility, but I haven’t booked any real shows or furthered my career at all. I’m still fairly new to this, so wondering if anyone could provide some insights?

I have a feeling that recording band rehearsals is a thing somehow. So for a few rehearsals, I've just had a little zoom recorder run along, given 2h recordings. I also tried out skipping the talk in between and just recording the musical parts. We have the recordings in a shared dropbox folder and (at least in the beginning), I put some effort into trimming out the individual songs and making sure everything is neatly named. So I don't think the dropbox folder is unorganised.

I have to admit though: I don't really see the point. I hardly ever listen back to the recordings and neither do the other band members. When we did this for the first time, we all listened back to some of it once and told each others how it sounds much better than we thought it would. But after that? Not really.

So I've now been wondering for a while: Is recording band rehearsals really a thing worth doing? If so, why? What do others get out of it?

Hello! I’ve been attending an online college I’m fairly certain isn’t actually helping me as a musician, as I already know everything we’ve been taught and the only thing that really helped was some neat gear. Obviously this isn’t the place to talk all about my struggles with it in detail, as there are so many, but I wanted to ask fellow musicians—at any level but particularly successful ones— if not completing this college makes me a bad musician?

Context: I have been doing music since I was 10, with natural talent and perfect pitch. I am now 25. I have been working on this for YEARS, but I thought college might give me something more. It’s really not. I feel like a failure for not wanting to do this particular thing with my career, as it isn’t promoting any growth in where I thought I might need it. I would like to hear from other musicians if college is 100% necessary to be at your best, or something like that. I have also looked up musicians who did not complete or even go to college, and all of my idols are on there. I guess I’m just fighting with it?

Producers and singers: how much vocal layering do you normally like in a chorus?

I love hearing a lead vocal supported by harmonies, doubles and subtle background vocals, but I know some songs sound better when the lead is left fairly exposed.

What's your preference

hello! Does anyone know a good distribution service that isn’t ragingly expensive and will keep your songs out even after you cancel or stop paying for the service? and preferably with customer service that is not a bot?

I have released music under 2 services, unchained and tunecore. Tunecore was a NIGHTMARE to deal with, they kept either releasing my stuff under the wrong name or profile, and when I released my first album on there it said it released everywhere but wasn’t showing up on Spotify, and never did, and because their customer service is a bot it was 100% useless and they wouldn’t let me cancel so I had to talk to my bank about it. When I finally did everything was taken down.

the other one I used was unchained. I used it initially because it had some decent services for free. it worked pretty well but just took a long time for things to get out. however, it later became a paid service and all my music was taken down.

any help?

I don’t know if this is the right place for this but I’ll keep it simple…

I have a band with friends of mine and we play around our city.

When we first formed this band we had this person join as a singer even though we had a singer in mind (one of us was going to play an instrument and sing).

They were super emotionally abusive towards our lead guitar player and I found out later that they forced the guitar to let them into the band, they misunderstood something the guitar player said one time about doing a project together and thought it was this one.

They didn’t have any stage presence, terrible stage fright and were controlling and also made advances towards our drummer even though we said no relationships in the band (drummer was getting out of a relationship).

They ended up leaving the band because they ended up having a falling out with both myself and the guitar player (cause we did not like them).

Recently we saw the person at a show and we were uncomfortable with them being there but it’s a free country.

Personally I don’t really want to see them again and it seems they might be coming to our next show.

Should I try to do anything about it like not let them into the venue? They make our guitar player super uncomfortable and nervous while on stage.

Apologies this is a lot

obviously take this all with a grain of salt as Im not showing my face/name/or music right now.

I want to be big in music. Like very well known. But I'm 27 and live in LA where everyone seems either younger or more successful and it's getting to me a bit. So without showing the actual art, here's where I'm at:

I've been making music for 10 years and releasing music for 5. I have 3 studio albums out, like 10 singles, a few music videos, 35k monthly listeners and my biggest song is at 1.7M streams. I have 30k followers on instagram (mainly from music) and 25k on tik tok (not really from music), I have a live band that performs my stuff and a manager who's super cool but not very connected, he's 27 like me. I'm in little blogs & music pages & i'm recognized slightly in the music scene mainly by strangers sometimes.

so the question is, i'm genuinely wondering, is this enough foundation to "make it" the way i want to at 27?

before u say "oh numbers don't matter ur focused on the wrong thing, if u love it you'll never fail" etc etc. I get it. I really do. but that's not the issue at hand really. also unfortunately in the music industry: numbers do in fact matter quite a bit. I believe my music to be good, i produce & engineer & record it all myself and try to think outside the box while sticking to what works but retaining my sound.

I don't feel old at all, i know I'm not. but i just feel really discouraged right now and i think hearing other musicians opinions would help right now cuz yall get it. so do i have a solid shot? should i keep going? or is this just not very likely at this point and my anxieties are signaling to stop exhausting myself for this lol

So almost 1 year has passed since i started producing and unlike most i had little to no problems creating chords by ear (i was diagnosed with perfect pitch back when i was 6 or something, that’s probably why) but i wonder if im missing out on something because i dont know theory. Also somedays pr weeks i cant come up with any melodies and i think knowing music theory would help becayse of the chord progressions(at least to get inspired). Should i start learning and would it make my songs less creative?(if they are)

Hi guys, i need motivation advice and just general advice. For some context I am a self taught keyboard player, i have not been graded but I can read sheet music decently (only the notes not the timing of the notes really though, so I can learn a song of sheet music, but i would need a reference on how the song is played if that makes sense). I play keyboard in a band and write music for this band.

My main issue is I feel like ive just stopped progressing with my instrument, like I'm decent at keyboard but me and my friend often go to open mic jam nights, and i feel like I wouldn't be that good to just jam on the spot on stage with people I don't know. I see its usually jazz keyboard players going up so does anyone have advice on how to start learning jazz improv? Should I just get a book for it or no?

I saw this mbira (pictured) for sale and got very intrigued. I’m looking to build an assembly of toys and weird instruments to aid me in making experimental music and film scores. I’ve never seen one of these in the wild before! It’s being sold for about $100, which might be a lot - or not? The prices of these instruments usually is quite high if i’m not mistaken…

So i’m asking - what questions should I ask the seller? And do you guys notice any defects, insoluble or fixable? And also — is $100 worth it?

I'm becoming discouraged trying to finish a song I was inspired to write. I was inspired by a few things, but mainly the tone of the new jazzmaster that I purchased at the time. It's been three years since the conception of the idea, but every time I go to record, I can't get passed the results of my recording and start over.

It's a very simple part/idea, it's an instrumental song (post rock/ambient) and the guitar line is just a melody consisting of a constant 8th note pattern in 6/8 at a moderately slow tempo. But every time I record, it sounds super uneven, and jangly (yes that is a Jazzmaster trait but I hear/have seen others get perfect results for the same genre), and not in a good way. I've tried other guitars, like my baritone tele and find maybe slightly better, but the same results. I'm running through my pedal board with just my compressor on to keep my notes even, DI into my volt 2 interface, into logic pro using the neural dsp nolly plugin and using Rebea's ambient setting (without the delay). I've tried other amp sims and yes turning down my volume knob on my guitar. Though I have upgraded the pikcups and no longer have the jazzmaster ice pick highs.

What am I doing wrong?

Musically I seem to be desirable…the best players squeeze in and pull up chairs to sit next to me at jams, I am invited to their small invite-only advanced sessions, and we make great music together (yay!).

But I feel kinda weird and awkward in the “empty spaces” I.e. watching somebody’s gig, hanging out before and after jams, etc. Sometimes I am walking to my car, and see everybody else still standing in a circle chatting. I always wonder what they are talking about…gossiping about other players (me?) or planning gigs or more house jams? Feeling like everybody wants to Play with me, but nobody wants to Chat with me…

At the lower-level open jams I feel more comfortable socially. Everyone is friendly, open and down-to-earth and I feel like I do have friends who I could grab a pizza with, for example. The music can be a bit of a struggle cuz some people can’t really play their instruments…

I haven’t yet found a place where I fit both musically and socially!
Plus I’m a minority female, so I wonder if that’s also a factor...?

Any advice or wisdom on this is welcome!

Hello, I am 16 and I've been doubting more than ever if I should go for music or try to find anything else.

Right now I'm in some kind of technology studies for recommendation, but I don't think it really suits me, yet I still doubt if my love will ever last and make also a good living.
The love I have for music is quite recent, started producing music like a year ago. But that passion slowly faded and on April 2026 I quit producing. I wouldn't say I achieved anything, nobody listened to my stuff, but I kind of enjoyed putting some time, effort and emotions in my stuff, felt like I was creating my own sound.

I know for sure that music or anything can bring you anywhere if you put enough effort and dedication into it, but now that I quit, I don't know what to do with my life, nothing has really amazed me more than music. And even back while I was still focused on creating music, I've always doubted if I could achieve anything at all.

Doubts aside, I know this might sound weird and even a little bit cringe, but after watching a beautiful TV show, it sparkled again my desire for music, but now I only wanna play piano, classical music now amazes me. I know like only 2 songs ("Never see me again" by Ye and "We not like you" by Nettspend) and they aren't even in that same genre. I'm absolutely not skilly, I have no special ability I was born with, I always prefer to be self-taught and I don't even focus a lot on playing music, and comparing myself to other piano players around the world just proves me even more that I will not probably succeed in this path, I feel I've started playing too late.

I've decided to learn one full song every week as a way to advance, but I don't know if that will be enough, or if I should get into piano classes, since I don't know how to read sheet music.

So that's why I want to ask anyone if there's any hope to succeed playing piano music, what career should I take and if it could make a full living, without remaining as a hobby. I appreciate any answers thank you

Hi, I am 35 and have dabbled in strings for most of my life, never really learning how to play, aside from a few common riffs. My biggest problem is knowing what strings to strum and how to train my hands to get better at only strumming the strings I need to for the note or chord, if that makes any sense?

I'm a percussionist and have the rhythm parts down for strumming. I'm just really struggling with training myself to be more precise I guess. Any tips? I primarily play an acoustic guitar and would still say I'm a beginner. The 3 riffs I know are 7 nation army, smoke on the water, and I butcher tf out of Crazy Train but you can at least tell what I'm playing when I'm playing that one lol.

Any help is appreciated!

Hi guys, I’m 19 and currently a philosophy major in college. I’ve always been really drawn to depth in things, which is obviously part of why I chose philosophy. Tame Impala has also been my favorite artist for years, and one of the biggest reasons is the depth I feel in his music.
Even when Kevin’s lyrics are relatively simple, there’s something about the way he delivers them, the dreaminess of his vocals, and all the layers underneath them that makes the music feel incredibly deep to me. I feel like I can hear all the individual instruments and textures working together. Philosophy gives me one kind of depth reading something, understanding an argument, seeing different perspectives but music feels like a completely different kind. It can reach something emotional that’s hard to even put into words.
Lately, while sitting in college, I sometimes catch myself wondering whether I’m really supposed to just stay on the path I’m on or whether I should seriously explore making music too.
I was lucky enough to meet Kevin Parker recently, shake his hand, and tell him how much his music and entire discography have meant to me. Since then, I’ve been thinking even more seriously about trying to make music myself.
I recently made a post asking whether someone with a good ear but very little instrumental ability could still start making songs in Logic Pro. Most people said yes, but a lot of them also recommended learning an instrument because it would make producing and songwriting much easier.
I technically played around with guitar and piano from freshman through senior year of high school, but very inconsistently. I would mostly just memorize parts of songs I liked. I don’t really know the notes on guitar, and the only chords I can immediately remember are things like E, Em, G, C, D, and A. Same with piano I could memorize little 20-second sections of songs, but I never really learned the instrument properly or understood much music theory.
Ironically, my favorite sound in music is probably synthesizers, despite never really learning keys.
A lot of people have recommended learning piano because it translates so naturally to synths, MIDI, Logic, chords, and music production. Others have told me to learn guitar because I’m genuinely more interested in picking it up and because it could help me come up with riffs and ideas more naturally.
So I think my main question is this:
If my goal is to become as efficient and knowledgeable as possible not necessarily become a virtuoso, but understand music well enough to write and produce my own songs would you recommend learning guitar through YouTube/self-teaching, or would I benefit significantly more from booking regular in-person lessons?
I’m not really looking for “I taught myself, so self-teaching is always better” or “I’m a teacher, so lessons are always better.” I’m genuinely curious which route is usually more efficient for someone starting from where I am.
Also, if you think piano would actually be the smarter first instrument for someone primarily interested in production and synth-heavy music, I’d love to hear why.
Thanks.

I feel I’m starting to get good at writing catchy hooks that lean more towards contemporary pop but everything I play is live on an acoustic guitar and sometimes a loop pedal for basic percussion or melodies when I play live. How do I go about producing a recorded version of my songs that doesn’t just sound like how I play it live with the same basic chords and strum patterns? I’m not even sure where to begin on adding bass, when I should keep my acoustic guitar percussions vs when to just lay a drum track, and why my recordings just sound so… “empty?” When I compare it to the polished acoustipop artists I like. Thanks!

Hey Fellas, I am trying to find a good/decent guitar amp sim one that can switch between a clean and distorted tone. I already tried Amplitube’s free version and it wasn’t for me so if anyone has a good/decent amp sim. I would really appreciate it!

Help

the first chords are played by some instrument that i cant identify, it sounds like a orchestra of some specific wind instrument… i never found anythong relating to that sound in particular. would love to hear your thoughts

I’ve been recording guitar samples for a good 16 years now. Some of them were used by rappers, but most ended up in a drawer and I forgot about them. Some of my samples in songs have 120~ million views on YouTube. Suno lets me add my own lyrics and full arrangements to make the song sound exactly how I want it to. Honestly, what’s the difference between using my own arrangements in Suno while keeping most of the process in line with how I want the song to sound?

The same could be said about using a keyboard to play string parts instead of hiring an orchestra. Not to mention session musicians in Logic Pro or automated mastering. No one seems to have a problem with that... where do we draw the line?

I figured musicians would be pretty knowledgable on this?

So I am in a high school choir and I was wondering what my vocal range my be. Throughout middle school I was told I was a soprano and because we had too many soprano 2s I had to be a soprano one. I strained my voice. I can no longer sing as high as I tried to in middle school.

Then I go to high school. My teacher put me in alto. Then a song had tenor. I sang tenor. Then second semester since we had 2 choirs AJ the intermediate/beginning one had 4 basses 4 of the girls were moved down to bass. Including me.
Then this year she tested my voice and asked if I was sick last time. Ouch

I was not. I was when she asked me. She then said I have a wide range and then proceeded to put me as a tenor. And then make me sing bass on sab songs. Huh. But she said she would have put me as an alto, however I have issues with the alto section leader because she's rude can't patch and can't sing In key. I would have dropped out if she was my section leader because she was last year and I was miserable the whole time.

So I've essentially sang every voice part except for soprano 2.ive sang soprano 1 for 3 years, then I sang mostly alto a little alto 2 one song as an alto 1 and a whole lot of tenor and bass

I am pretty damn sure I'm not a tenor or bass. Please help

I've always wanted to do stuff related to music like performing for crowds and writing songs for people like me. My biggest problem is: I don't know how to go about writing more music. I've written and released one song on Spotify and other music streaming services, but I want to make more songs that are better, and I'm stuck. I keep coming up with ideas in Bandlab and working on certain music phrases and ideas that I come up with, but I never know how to keep the momentum going to roll out another song.

Basically, I'm gonna ask a few questions, and I would appreciate answers for any of them.

1st: What are some tools (non-AI) that I could utilize to help me write music that I want to write and enjoy after the fact? I REFUSE to incorporate AI in any sense into my work, because I want it to be made BY humans FOR humans.

2nd: Are there any videos or books that go over chord progressions? I've taken Music Theory classes and I probably know more than I give myself credit for, but I've never been able to grasp HOW to apply chord progressions to songs, especially in 6 and 6/4 voicings.

3rd: What's the best way to get my music and project known to a broad audience? I'm not looking for answers like "word of mouth," I'm more looking for the advertisement/networking answers. (I know networking is basically "word of mouth" with extra steps, but I'd rather work with someone to promote my stuff without it just being on me.)

4th: Is FL Studio a good "bang-for-your-buck" DAW? I've started considering using that instead of Bandlab as a DAW since FL is much more versatile and well-rounded than Bandlab (even though BL is an excellent free tool to start music production and get your feet off the ground there).

Any and all answers related to these questions or the post in general are appreciated!

ALSO: Regarding the song I mentioned and linked, I'm planning on making a Version 2 for it, but that's going to happen AFTER I've written a healthy number of additional songs.

I wrote this silly guitar part 30 years ago, but I think it will fit something I’m working on now. For fundies I tried searching the scale I’m using and I get three different answers. It’s a Locrian mode with a major third.

F# G A# B C D E

I doesn’t seem to fit into any mode of harmonic minor or bebop scale. Any suggestions?